The present invention relates generally to the field of navigation, and more specifically to a system and method for collecting and conveying point of interest information.
Vehicle systems have been developed to assist operators of motor vehicles with navigation information. Navigation information may include directions to a desired destination from a current location, specific road information, and data on area restaurants, shops, gas stations, hospitals, etc. These systems may employ roadside-based networks, satellites, or other communication technologies to provide information to the motor vehicle operator. The location information may be provided on-demand from a remote location or obtained from a periodically-updated vehicle data storage unit.
In more recent years, vehicle systems have been designed to capture navigation information. For example, U.S. Patent Application Number 2008/0091339 to Nagase et al. teaches a vehicle having a navigation system capable of collecting road congestion information. Road congestion information includes time, date, link information which refers to data related to a road or portion of a road, driving speed, windshield wiper status, outside and road-surface temperatures, and vehicle location. A vehicle CPU judges whether each piece of collected information is relevant for transmission as prescribed by an information center. The relevant information is transmitted to the information center, and used to update one or more center databases, including the center map information database.
Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,720,920 to Breed et al. teaches a collision avoidance system that uses a road map database and a method for acquiring digital map data. Digital map data is acquired by placing local area differential GPS stations along a road to be mapped. Using vehicle mounted GPS receivers, a mapping vehicle obtains its location from GPS satellites and corrections from the local differential GPS stations to two centimeter accuracy. Cameras are mounted on the vehicle to collect information about the road including the location of road signs, the general environment of the road, and anomalies. The types of vehicle cameras may vary and include linear cameras, laser radar, and video cameras. The collected information forms a road map database.
The aforementioned technology lacks the ability to detect when a vehicle is utilizing a previously unknown point of interest location, gather information related to the new point of interest location, and update a central server with the new point of interest location information. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a system and method that addresses the shortcomings of the prior art discussed above.